Marlins trade Burke Badenhop, sign Aaron Rowand to minor-league deal

The Marlins traded long relieverBurke Badenhop to the Rays for minor-league catcher Jake Jefferies and also signed veteran outfielderAaron Rowand to a minor-league deal. The Badenhop trade was completed within hours of the midnight deadline for teams to tender contracts to arbitration-eligible players. Badenhop was one of those.

The team tendered the following arbitration-eligibles: Anibal Sanchez, Emilio Bonifacio, Chris Volstad, Edward Mujica and Juan Carlos Oviedo. Clay Hensley, who had already been designated for assignment, was non-tendered and becomes a free agent.

Badenhop was arguably the most successful of the six players the Marlins received in their 2007 trade with Detroit for Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis -- and was also the last remaining player for the Marlins from that trade. He appeared in 151 games for the Marlins (including 10 starts), going 13-15 with a 4.34 ERA.

Jefferies was the Rays' third-round pick in the 2008 amateur draft. In four minor-league seasons, Jefferies, who bats left-handed, has hit .254 with 13 home runs. He spent most of last season at Single A Charlotte in the Florida State League.

Rowand, an 11-year major league veteran, was released in August by San Francisco. According to Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports.com, the Giants will be eating his $12 million salary in 2012 less the major league minimum.

Rowand plays all three outfield positions and the Marlins could employ him as a right-handed bat off the bench. Though he hit just .233 for the Giants last season, he went 9 for 26 with three home runs as a pinch-hitter.

The Marlins also announced the signing of infielder Donnie Murphy to a minor-league deal.